Scottsdale

Old Town The city counts more than 80 art galleries, more than 90 restaurants and about 320 shops in Old Town. Western Spirit is the anchor if you want more than browsing: a two-story, 55,000-square-foot museum at Marshall Way and First Street, on the site of the former Loloma Transit Station. It covers 19 western states, western Canada and Mexico, and it opened in January 2015 under the name Scottsdale's Museum of the West, a phrase it still uses. Allow 1.5 to 3 hours. Docent tours are included with admission, and classic Westerns play on Sundays at 2 p.m. The free underground city garage next door saves a lot of circling.

Taliesin West Frank Lloyd Wright established his winter home and "desert laboratory" here in 1937, building it with his apprentices from desert rock set in wooden forms and bound with cement and sand. He kept coming every winter until his death in 1959. It is a National Historic Landmark and, since 2019, one of eight Wright sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The self-guided audio tour takes 60 to 75 minutes, on gravel and concrete, and it needs your phone and headphones unless you borrow a device on site. Tickets are limited, so book ahead. A longer Behind-the-Scenes Tour and several guided desert hikes run on set dates, mostly through the winter. The site closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and Easter Sunday.

The preserve The McDowell Sonoran Preserve is more than 30,500 acres with over 230 miles of shared trails, and it is free. It opens from sunrise to sunset, and the city publishes a table of exact gate times by date. Gateway, Brown's Ranch, Lost Dog Wash and Pima Dynamite trailheads have restrooms and water. Fraesfield and Granite Mountain have restrooms but no water, and Quartz and Ringtail have parking and no water at all. Brown's Ranch reopened on October 30, 2026, after improvements. The Bajada and Jane Rau trails are the accessible nature options. E-bikes are not allowed. The city advises leaving dogs at home if the forecast goes above 90°F during your outing.

Guided hikes are run by the city's natural resources staff and by its partner, the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, which helps if you'd rather not navigate alone. Rattlesnakes live in the preserve and are protected, so watch where you step. Pinnacle Peak Park, also city-run, is a separate park; check its own page for hours and rules.

Getting there and around Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, across the city line, handles commercial flights. Scottsdale has never had a rail line, so a car is the practical choice for Taliesin West and the preserve. A city trolley system covers downtown and connects south Scottsdale neighbourhoods. Park in the free city garage by Western Spirit if you are staying in Old Town.

When to go Late autumn through spring. Taliesin West's regular ticket season runs October to May, and its tour schedule changes month by month. Western Spirit stays open until 8 p.m. on Thursdays from November to April, and closes on Mondays between Memorial Day and Labor Day. In summer, walk the preserve at first light, carry far more water than feels necessary, and remember that Phoenix logged 121 days at or above 105°F in 2024.